Agricultural implements



y 1962 R. w. BUSHMEYER ETAL 3,043;378

AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS Filed Jan. 15, 1960 NVENTOR.

I RICHARD VV. BUSHMEYER FB5ED d. VAUGHAN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,043,378 AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS Richard W. Bushmeyer and Fred J. Vaughn, Rockford, Ill, assignors to .l. I. Case Company, a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Jan. 15, 1960, Ser. No. 2,740 8 Claims. (Cl. 172754) The present invention relates to agricultural implements, and an object of the invention is to generally improve the construction and operation as well as the method of manufacture of devices of this class. in the operation of moldboard plows, there is serious difficulty in certain types of soil, such as those infested with rocks of considerable size, in that the plow bottom will encounter these rocks from time to time with considerable force. The impacts are received on all parts of the plow bottom from every conceivable direction, the most serious being those which occur at, or very near the extreme forward portion of the plow share. This tends to concentrate the shock load or stress, at or near the point so that it is desirable that this portion be made as strong as, or preferably stronger than any other part of the plow.

In the past, the share has been made as a forging, and it has been substantially thickened near the front or end portion so as to increase the strength by reason of the large amount of material concentrated at the point portion. Such a share is, of course, quite costly to manufacture, and when dulled after reasonable use, requires sharpening which is usually done by reforging, grinding, or a combination of both. In the recent past, a new type of share has been developed which is made by merely shearing appropriate lengths from a rolled bar of uniform cross section. .The material can be as high-grade as desirable, and yet the share when worn or dulled is cheap enough to be discarded and replaced with a new one. While this construction has strength enough for normal operation, the point portion, being no thicker than the rest of the share, may bend or break under impact conditions unless strongly supported from beneath. In the use of such a share, the problem is to support the same in a manner that it will be substantially equal in strength and durability to a forged share. In this connection, it should be noted that the force of an impact against the point may be in an upward direction as well as in a downward direction, and therefore, while support from beneath is vitally important, the manner of fastening the share is also very important. The conventional plow frog is deficient in this respect.

The conventional plow frog is made by bendmg or fold-j together to form a generally V-shape body, a somewhatsharper point may be produced on the frog, but the arrangement is still undesirable in that the welded joint extends =down into the region of greatest stress, whereas the optimal condition would be to have solid metal running out under the share point and to which the share would be ru-gge'dly attached as far forward as possible. Accordingly, a further object of the invention is to provide an improved plow frog, and further objects are to provide a frog which extends forward under the share, which provides a portion of solid metal free from welds or joints in this region; to locate an attaching bolt for the share at the furthest possible forward locationyto provide an optimum amount of metal in the frog about I the bolt; and to provide optimum strength in the material about the bolt hole.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide a forged portion extending forwardly beneath a plow share and welded to the plow frog at a location spaced backwardly from the point, away from the region of greatest stress.

A further object is to provide an exceptionally strong welded joint between the forged point and the body of the frog. I

The manner in which these objects are accomplished is set forth in the following specification and illustrated in the drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a bottom plan view of a complete plow bottom made according to the invention.

FIG. 2 isa similar view of a portion of FIG. 1, enlarged, with parts removed and facing in the opposite direction.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the portion of FIG. 1 shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a left side elevation of the fragment shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a rear elevation of the point forging alone, as on the line -55 of FIG-S. 3 and 4.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 4 with a part removed.

Similar reference characters refer to the same parts throughout the specification and drawings in which an plate 12 generally vertically disposed (in the normal posi tion of the plow bottom), and a moldboard plate 14, the frog as a whole being generally designated as F. Plate 14 is shaped to conform approximately with the shape of the usual moldboard 16, being curved downwardly and outwardly from a point spaced above the beam 10, and to which a share 18 as well as moldboard 16 are strongly attached. Beam plate 12 and moldboard plate 14 are joined at an upper edge by welding as at 20, plate 14 preferably overlapping somewhat to the left of beam plate 12 as best seen in FIG. 6. As will be apparent, the joining of triangular plate 12 and curved plate 14 will form a generally plow-shaped unit, but in the present instance the plates stop short of providing a point portion; being cut off in a generally vertical plane to provide an 7 opening 22. In other words, the plates 12 and 14, when joined, provide a hollow, downwardly open, generally wedge-shaped body, but from which the lower front or end portion has been cut away or omitted and to which a forging or solid'metal portion is Welded or otherwise permanently attached. As seen in FIG. 2, plate 12 extends forwardly as does plate 14, but a slightly shorter distance, plate 14 being so shaped as to provide a forwardly directed attaching surface 24' Plate 12 also provides a forwardly directed attaching surface 25' but which, in the present instance, is disposed somewhat rearwardly of attaching surface 24. V

In order to form the strongest practical frog construction, a point portion, in the present instance a forging; generally designated as 26 is provided having an outer contour which registers substantially with, or forms a continuationof the outer surface of moldboard plate 14 and which has a rearwardly directed attaching surface 28.

Point portion 26 is integral in character and provides a cavity 29 which is downwardly open when the structure is in normal position. The portion of forging 26 about; cavity 29 constiutes a wall or walls enclosing the cavity,

a? there being a right wall 30 and a left wall 32. Wall 32, in the present instance, is extended backwardly as related to attaching surface 28 and extends alongside beam plate 12 to form a tongue portion 33. Attaching surfaces 24 and 28 are strongly united as by welding, while attaching surface 25 is welded or otherwise permanently attached to the inner side of wall 32 or tongue 33. Furthermore, the upper edge of tongue 33 is welded as seen in FIG. 4 to the outer surface of plate 12. In this way forging 26 is united with plates 12 and 14 in a permanent manner and at a region far enough rearwardly from its point portion 34 so as to avoid subjecting the welds to the extreme stress concentration arising at point 34 when the plow hits an obstruction. The shock of an impact is easily withstood by the welding when placed in this position.

As heretofore pointed out, the mode of attachment of share 18 is important, particularly when an impact is such as to cause an upward force thereon. For this purpose, forging 26 is provided with a bolt hole 36 which extends from cavity 29 upwardly and to the right through the face of forging 26. A bolt 38 extends through hole 36 and engages share 18, and hole 36 is placed as far forward in cavity 29 as possible, while preserving sufiicient space for the application of a wrench to a nut 40 on bolt 38. Any further forward location of hole 36' would necessitate narrowing or thinning of wall 32 or wall 34 and in practice these parts are made so that there is a balance of strength of share 18 and forging 26 to result in the strongest possible support and fastening of share 18. In

this way, a relatively simple and inexpensive share has a very strongly supportedpoint portion and is held down against upward impacts by a bolt which is located at the extreme possible forward location within the space provided in the plow frog.

The other parts of the plow form no part of the invention, it being merely necessary to point out that share 18 is also secured by bolts 42 and 44, the latter connecting share -18 to moldboard -16 by means of a strap 46 and a bolt 48.

Bolts 50 serve to secure moldboard 16 to moldboard plate 14 while bolts 52 secure beam plate =12 to beam 10.

A brace 54 extends between beam '16 and moldboard 16 and is secured by bolts 56 and 58.

A land side 60 may be provided if desired and which, if used, abuts and forms a continuation of above-mentioned tongue 33.

By making point portion 26 as a forging, the part may be proportioned for uniform stress distribution, which increases the resiliency of the part and its ability to absorb energy, which is a tremendous strengthening factor under dynamic or shock loads. I

This method of fabrication also permits better grain orientation in the steel forresisting the applied load and also gives more uniform response to heat treatment than known methods of welding the gunnel under the nose of the frog. Furthermore, the forging process eliminates the sharp or abrupt changes in section characteristic of of the old method, and which weakened the frog at the nose portion where maximum strength was essential.

Hole 36 extends out of cavity 29 in an upwardly and forwardly inclined direction, substantially normal to the sloping surface to which share 18 is attached.

The operation of the invention is throught to be clear from the above, it being pointed out that a very strong and rugged frog is provided in which the strength is concentrated in the region where it is most needed.

The above being a complete description of a device embodying the invention in its preferred form, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a plow frog, the combination of a point forging having a generally triangular wedge-shaped configuration providing therein a downwardly and rearwardly open longitudinally extending upwardly rounded cavity and a forwardly directed point portion, and said forging presenting a rearwardly directed substantially vertical attaching surface, an inclined moldboard plate permanently united to said attaching surface and extending rearwardly and upwardly therefrom, a beam plate substantially vertically disposed and having an upper edge permanently united to said moldboard plate, and said point forging having a tongue portion extending rearwardly alongside, and permanently united with said beam plate, and said forging providing a sharp attaching bolt hole extending upwardly out of a forward portion of said longitudinally extending cavity.

2. In a plow frog, the combination of a point forging having a generally triangular wedge-shaped configuration providing a substantially vertical side, a sloping side and a sharp point portion, and having therein a downwardly and rearwardly open longitudinally extending upwardly rounded cavity, said forging presenting a rearwardly directed substantially vertical attaching surface, an inclined moldboard plate permanently united to said attaching surface and extending rearwardly and upwardly therefrom, a beam plate substantially vertically disposed and having an upper edge permanentlyunited to said moldboard plate, and'said point forging having a tongue portion extending rearwardly alongside, and permanently united with said beam plate, and said forging providing a share attaching bolt hole extending upwardly out of a forward portion of said longitudinally extending cavity and substantially normal to said sloping side of said point forging.

3. In a plow frog, the combination of a point forging having a generally triangular wedge-shaped configuration providing a rearwardly directed substantially vertical attaching surface, an inclined moldboard plate permanently united to said attaching surface and extending rearwardly and upwardly therefrom, a beam plate substantially vertically disposed and having a landward side and an upper edge, said moldboard plate being permanently united with and overhanging said landward side of said beam plate, and said point forging having a tongue portion extending rearwardly alongside and permanently united with said landward side of said beam plate, and said tongue portion being of a thickness substantially equivalent to the overhang of said moldboard plate.

4. In a plow frog, the combination of a point forging having a generally triangular wedge-shaped configuration providing a rearwardly directed substantially vertical attaching surface, an inclined moldboard plate permanently united to said attaching surface and extending rearwardly, and upwardly therefrom, a beam plate substantially vertically disposed and having a landward side and an upper edge, said moldboard plate being permanently united with and overhanging said landward side of said beam plate.

5. In a plow frog a generally triangular substantially vertical beam plate having a forwardly directed portion terminating in a vertically directed, attaching edge, a generally triangular moldboard plate having an upwardly directed sloping edge, the upper edge of said beam plate being united with said moldboard plate adjacent the upper edge of said moldboard plate, a point forging, generally triangular in configuration and providing a downwardly open cavity defining angularly related side walls, said moldboard plate having a forwardly directed portion provlding a forwardly directed substantially vertical attach- 1ng edge, one of the walls of said point forging providing a rearwardly directed attaching edge permanently united to said forwardly directed attaching edge of said moldboard plate, the other wall of said point forging extending rearwardly of said attaching edges alongside said beam plate and being permanently united thereto.

6. In a plow frog a landside section and a moldboard section interconnected to form a forwardly directed downwardly open V-shaped attaching portion, a solid metal section providing a forwardly directed point and terminating rearwardly in a downwardly open V-shaped attaching portion, and said forwardly directed V-shaped attaching portion and said rearwardly directed ,V-shaped 5 or attaching portion being permanently united so that said solid metal section becomes a forward extension of said landside section and said moldboard section to support a share on said moldboard and solid metal sections forwardly to a region substantially beneath the point of said share.

7. A plow frog .in accordance with claim 6 in which said rearwardly directed attaching portion includes a tongue extending rearwardly alongside said landside section and which is permanently united with said landside section.

8. A plow frog in accordance with claim 6 in which said solid metal section provides a downwardly open cavity opening rearwardly into and defining said V-shaped attaching portion, said solid metal section also providing a share attaching bolt hole extending upwardly out of a forwardmost portion of said downwardly open cavity.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 152,2'40 Moore June 23, 1874 974,675 Kelly Nov. 1, 1910 1,281,283 Brunelle Oct. 15, 1918 1,544,408 Jensen June 30, 1925 1,807,459 Wheeler May 26, 1931 2,154,973 Chibnik Apr. 18, 1939 2,622,502 Altgelt Dec. 23, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 22,453 Australia Sept. 17, 1930 35,150 Denmark Oct. 6, 1925 TENT OFFICE RRECTION July 10 1962 UNITED sTATEs PA CERTIFICATE OF C0 Patent No. 3.0435378 Richard W.

tified that error appear ion and that the said Le Bushmeyer et a1.

numbered pats in the above 1d read as It is hereby oer tters Patent shou ent requiring correct corrected below.

" read shar'e Column 4, line 9, for "sharp ed this 23rd day of October 1962,

Signed and seal (SEAL) Atteet:

DAVID L. LADD Commissioner of Patents ERNEST W. SWIDER Attesting Officer 

